Maryland Frees Close to 70 Inmates Over Faulty Jury Instructions

Move Raises Questions Over Whether Decades-Old Cases Should be Retried

BALTIMORE—A state-court ruling that called into question Maryland jury convictions dating to Colonial times has led to the release of close to 70 prison inmates, fueling a debate over whether decades-old cases should be retried and, in many cases, bringing back to the surface painful emotions for families of victims.

The mass release began after Maryland's Court of Appeals ruled in 2012 that the instructions state judges had been giving to juries before deliberations were fundamentally flawed. An additional 180 or so...